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Restless, sleepless nights are a modern-day plague, don’t you think? The hectic lives we lead today often leave us all distraught and vulnerable, making our sleep utterly destroyed. Instead of falling asleep quick and easy, we twist and turn in bed, unable to enter the dreamworld. 

Let this happen for a few nights, and you will slowly start to experience the effects of full-blown sleep deprivation and the raging onset of insomnia. 

That’s what got you looking into different solutions for your sleep in the first place, right? While behavioral lifestyle changes and learning different relaxation techniques are all crucial for you to achieve quality sleep, many people go for sleeping pills instead, but we also recommend opting for natural supplements instead. 

Navigating through the vast, overcrowded market of natural sleeping aids can sometimes be tough and overwhelming, and often quite unnecessary. 

Why? 

Well, while there’s a lot of different natural supplements out there, you might just need only one – magnesium. 

Magnesium’s sleep-promoting qualities are rising in popularity, and the supplement is quickly ascending to the throne of natural sleeping aids. The power of this common mineral not only helps you fall asleep quicker, it gives you deeper, more restful slumber as well. 

Having this in mind, we wanted to give you insight into what magnesium is, how exactly is it connected to your sleep, and what can it do to improve it. 

Let’s dive right in. 

Magnesium 101 

As one of the most widespread minerals on the planet, our health thrives on high levels of magnesium. In fact, it’s one of the seven macro-minerals that the human body needs in large quantities. Our bodies use it in over 600 biochemical reactions, making it an essential electrolyte for our holistic health. From every cell to every organ, our bodies desperately need this mineral to maintain proper function. Bone health, brain, heart, nerve, and muscle function – magnesium regulates it all. 

Since our bodies do not produce it, we must do our due diligence and be on the lookout for foods rich in magnesium. So, legumes, dark green veggies, whole grains, nuts, fish – all of these foods will go a long way in keeping your magnesium levels high and happy.

On top of all these health benefits, let’s add contributing to better sleep to the mix! There is increasing interest in how maintaining good levels of magnesium can help sleep issues like insomnia, delayed sleep-onset, and sleep deprivation.   

Let’s take the time to examine the connection between this mineral and sleep from multiple angles.

Magnesium and Sleep – Overview 

The benefits magnesium holds for our sleep come through helping our bodies and brains relax. How does it do that exactly? First and foremost, it activates the parasympathetic nervous system – the part of our autonomous nervous system that regulates our fight/flight response. Second, it regulates your melatonin levels. As we’ve discussed millions of times before, melatonin is responsible for your regular sleep-wake cycles in your body. 

Let’s say all this simpler – by giving your nervous system piece of mind and regulating your melatonin levels, magnesium helps you relax, thus preparing you for sleep. 

Since falling and staying asleep majorly depends on your ability to relax, taking magnesium supplements instead of sleeping pills now seems to be the better choice, doesn’t it? 

What the Research Says

If you’re still not sold on the idea that magnesium is an effective sleeping aid, we’ve got some research to back up our claim. 

The Journal of Research in Medical Sciences clearly shows that magnesium, used as a supplement, was able to promote better sleep through increasing sleep time. 

Furthermore, the Oxford Academic Journal Sleep states that using magnesium as a supplement is effective in helping people suffering from restless leg syndrome fight off insomnia. 

Taking it even further, a comprehensive MIT report exploring the interaction between magnesium and fibromyalgia shows magnesium as a mineral able to reduce chronic body pain almost always associated with insomnia. 

Vitamins and Minerals provided a report that magnesium improves cognitive functioning, including enhanced mood, sleep, and lower stress levels.

Last, but most important, the National Sleep Foundation study shows that both calcium and magnesium are crucial when it comes to promoting high-quality sleep in adults. The study also points to magnesium used as supplementation is a lot safer than sleeping pills. 

Two questions arise from all this information – How does the interaction between both magnesium and melatonin and nervous system work? Let’s take a peek.  

The Interaction Between Magnesium and Melatonin

The idea is fairly simple. As your magnesium levels go up, so do levels of your neural activity. Neurotransmitters further pulse their messages and establish communication between your brain and your nervous system – charging up all that needed melatonin and sparking it into active production. making all that needed melatonin sparking to get activated.   

Based on the interaction between magnesium and melatonin, researchers conclude that magnesium is closely linked to your circadian rhythms. 

While we won’t elaborate on that, we’ll tell you this much – the lesser your magnesium levels, the poorer your sleep. 

The Interaction between Magnesium and the Nervous System

This is where neurobiology comes into play, making the link between magnesium and the nervous system a little bit complex. Since the neurotransmitters that get activated as your magnesium levels increase reduce neural activity by binding to GABA receptors, you can think of magnesium as this instigator of all these other chemical processes that have a calming effect on your brain as a result. 

To put it simpler – the more GABA levels go up, the less neural activity there is in your brain. This inhibitory process is responsible for making you sleepy. It’s no wonder that some sleeping pills have a little bit of something in them that jumpstarts GABA levels.

Furthermore, being the potential inhibitor that it is, magnesium served its greater purpose and made for a few studies that ended up suggesting that magnesium might be what people have been looking for when it comes to treating underlying depression and anxiety that are fueling one’s insomnia. 

Now that we’ve explained how this mineral intertwines with melatonin and our nervous system, we’ll walk you through how magnesium levels affect sleep and the recommended amount of magnesium you should be taking in daily. 

How Magnesium Levels Affect Sleep? 

Since people approaching their golden years or people suffering from diabetes, ADHD or alcohol addiction are prone to magnesium deficiency, all of them stand to benefit from supplemental magnesium. 

You see, having insufficient magnesium levels means you’re more than likely to experience disturbed sleep and insomnia. Relevant enough, research on mice suggests it too – mice kept on a diet that had little to no magnesium intake not only had disturbed sleep, but they also experienced more frequent awakenings. 

However, having too much of something creates an equal problem. Think of it as a ‘magnesium rush’.  Having an abnormally high magnesium count means sleeping problems, as well.

Finally, we get to the million-dollar conclusion – everything is good in moderation. Finding the right balance and keeping your magnesium levels at just the right spot translates into improved quality of your sleep.

Magnesium for Sleep: What’s the right dosage?

As far as the right dosages go, according to the National Institute of Health adult men should intake between 400 and 420 mg, and adult women should intake 310-360 mg. When it comes to children, The Food and Nutrition Board suggests that supplemental magnesium doesn’t go over 350 mg for males and females 9 years and older, 110 for children between 4 and 8, and 65 mg for toddlers. 

On the other hand, you could choose the alternative path and get all that precious magnesium the natural way. The abundance of foods and liquids that practically ooze magnesium (that contain high amounts of magnesium) includes nuts, whole grains, green vegetables, meat, fish and fruit.

As we’ve mentioned above, finding a sweet spot and having just the right daily dose of magnesium helps you regulate your nervous system, minimize the stress, improve your mood and last but not least, helps you come out as a winner in your battle with sleeping problems. 

Winning that battle with sleeping problems won’t be possible if you don’t show on the battlefield at the right time, so to use magnesium as a sleeping aid, take that sweet spot dosage somewhere between 1 to 2 hours before the desired sleep time. 

Since everything comes at a price, with supplemental magnesium come common supplement side effects, such as nausea or diarrhea. To prevent the trouble these side effects can get you in, take the following note to heart – don’t take magnesium on an empty stomach, and take it with a glass of water. Go and schedule an appointment with your doctor as well to discuss whether or not magnesium supplements are right for you and whether they will interfere with any other medication you are taking – if you’re taking any for other health conditions.  

Takeaway 

The evidence is clear – sleep is vital for your wellbeing. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute’s research tells us sleep is vital from everything from healthy brain function to emotional wellbeing, putting sleep at the center of our holistic health. People who aren’t getting consistent, continuous, sufficient, and good-quality sleep can experience all these different consequences, including emotional disturbance and safety risks. 

Since magnesium plays an essential role in regulating your nervous system and calming it down, this mineral can improve the overall quality of your sleep. 

Now that you are armed with enough knowledge about magnesium as a mineral, its interaction with our nervous systems’ and the part it plays in promoting high-quality sleep, it’s time to make an informed decision whether you will continue using the sleeping pills, switch to supplemental magnesium or travel the natural path and get your daily dose of this mineral via your diet.

If you end up deciding to give magnesium as a supplement for sleep a go, we recommend that you schedule an appointment and talk with your doctor first. Since it can interact with other medications, or produce side effects such as nausea, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea, your doctor will be able to make an educated decision and a plan on how much supplements to take daily. 

Finally, always keep in mind that lifestyle choice and making behavioral changes will also go a long way in improving your sleep. The typical activities for promoting sleep are warm baths, exercise, and relaxation techniques. 

There are many types of noise that help people sleep, and many sleepers tend to use these noises for drifting off into blissful slumber. Most individuals use white noise – a term used to describe all static frequencies put together to make relaxing ambient sounds. Other types of noises or different colors of noises are pink, blue, brown and red, and they can also help with falling and remaining asleep.  

The noises are usually associated with colors, similar to light. White light looks white because it is a combination of all the colors of the rainbow equally represented. In the same manner, white noise is a combination of similarly represented frequencies, whether the lower or higher ones. Also, there are other colors of noise, such as red noise, pink noise, blue noise, brown noise, and grey noise and scientists are just beginning to explore their functions.

What is White Noise?

White noise is similar to white light. It is a combination of all the sound frequencies that we can hear, just like all prism colors are combined in white light. It has a range of different frequencies with the same amplitude, which is measured in Hertz. Frequencies indicate the number of vibrations produced by the sound wave per second. White noise sounds like a waterfall and its volume does not change with frequency changes. Therefore it is very efficient in masking noises from our environment and alleviating tinnitus troubles.

According to research, it can also help induce sleep. In healthcare, it is used to treat increased sensitivity to environmental sounds. However, the sound of pure white noise is often harsh for our ears because its frequency range can be very high or very low. It is often mistaken for pink noise, which also has a range of frequencies, but its volume decreases with the frequency increase. Therefore pink noise sounds more balanced and susceptible to the human ear.

White noise has been studied widely, with the outcomes indicating its ability to help us fall asleep easier or calm down patients in hospitals by blocking background noises. For example, a fan in one room can block the sounds from the other room, helping you to calm down and fall asleep, which gives the noise a fan produces the character of white noise. It is similar to the murmur of a large number of people where our brain cannot differentiate any particular voice, but a buzz of sounds, which is also considered to be white noise. The fact that the white noise can cut through environmental sounds has qualified it for use in everyday life, for example in sirens of emergency vehicles.

What is Pink Noise?

White noise and pink noise are similar in the sense that we can hear them equally, but there is a difference between them when it comes to frequencies. It refers to the fact that both of them cover the range of 20 hertz to 20,000 hertz. However, they differ in the way their signal is distributed. White noise power per hertz is even throughout all frequencies, whereas pink noise power per hertz decreases as the frequency increases, resulting in more power in lower frequencies than in higher ones.

Pink noise is a combination of several natural sounds, such as thunder, ocean waves crashing, a huge waterfall, steady rain falling or the wind rushing through the leaves, so it is optimized for our listening perception, whereas white noise might sound thin or harsh. Its pattern is present in our daily heartbeat rhythm or traffic flow. However, what is pleasant for our ears is a singular sensation, so some scientists tend to advocate the idea that whatever we find relaxing will work for us. In that respect, some people find techno music relaxing with its steady beat, but for others, it might be annoying. The concept is that both white and pink noises benefit our relaxation by eliminating background sounds, but some people find pink noises deeper and gentler, helping them to improve their focus, sleep better and cure headaches. Some noises that don’t bother us during the day as they are masked by other daily sounds, such as faucet dripping, can become our nightmare during the night, as the surrounding silence enhances them.

With age, our deep sleep becomes critical, thus causing the whole range of side effects, such as the loss of concentration and memory. This is where the pink noise can help according to some researches who suggest listening to soothing sounds – a mix of high and low frequencies that are balanced, as a solution. As we mentioned above, the volume of higher frequencies in pink noise is milder, meaning that – the higher the frequency, the lower the sound, so the sounds seem equally strong and the listening experience relaxing. Thus, the sounds do not seem as high as in white noise. However, the research of pink noise is not as extensive as in the case of white noise. Some studies indicate that constant pink noise helps by reducing brain wave complexity. It is also said to induce better sleep in the sense of its quality and duration. What is interesting is that in specific studies some subjects exposed to pink noise experienced longer deep sleep and better quality napping than the subjects exposed to no noise.

Also, in another study, subjects were shown several word pairs before being exposed to pink sound during the deep sleep phase, whereas another group was not exposed to any sound. The group of subjects exposed to pink sounds was able to remember twice as many word pairs as compared to the no sounds group the following day, displaying much better memory. The main reason for this is considered to be the fact that the frequency of pink noise sounds was synchronized with the subjects’ brain waves. However, after a clinical trial on how different color sounds affect tinnitus, it has been concluded that pink noise did not have any effect on patients with tinnitus. Two-thirds of patients exposed to different color noises preferred white noise, and the rest of them chose red noise, while pink noise was not the preferred choice for any of them. Such a result indicated the necessity to tailor the treatment according to the needs of each individual patient.

One must always bear in mind that we all respond to noises differently, so the advice of the researcher mentioned above is that we should all find what works for us best. Pink noise has its application in everyday life such as for testing loudspeakers. It is also applied in business more and more, since it can mask the low-frequency background sounds, which help to enhance the concentration of employees, thus increasing their productivity.

Finally, as we noted, the research into the benefits of pink noise is still limited. More studies are required to definitely conclude how the effects of pink noise are different from white noise and other noise colors.

Other Types of Noises

Apart from white and pink, there are many other colors of noise. Among those colors are brown, blue, violet, and gray.

Brown noise got its name after a botanist named Robert Brown. He discovered the Brownian motion (random particle motion). The noise is also known as Brownian noisy to its random change in sound signal. It has a spectral density that is oppositely proportional to the frequency. This means that the power decreases while the frequency increases, and because of that it makes a lot of energy while having a low-frequency. To us, brown noise is actually very similar to white noise. The difference is that brown noise is much deeper, with a sound that has a low roar, and it contains all the humanly audible frequencies that boost the lower frequency range, which can be very useful for enhancing sound privacy, blocking out annoying noises and for treating hyperacusis and tinnitus.

Blue or azure noise has low frequency components without any concentrated spikes in energy. It is sometimes regarded as high-frequency white noise, but its spectral density is proportional to its frequency. Each successive octave increases by three decibels, which is why the power increases along with the frequency. This blue noise is biased toward higher frequencies, so it results in a high-pitched sound without any base. The noise is used for dithering – a process in which you add noise to a track in order to smooth out the sound and minimize the distortions.

Violet or purple noise is defined with the power increase with each increased octave in the frequency. Because it is the result of a white noise signal differentiation, the noise is also known as differentiated white noise.

Grey noise is random white noise that is the result of a loudness curve that happens in a range of frequencies. At all frequencies, the listener gets an equally loud perception of the sound. That is the opposite of the standard white noise that has an equal strength on all frequencies but does not make an equally loud sound on all of them.

How to Generate Environmental Noise and Block Sounds?

White noise or sound machines are the ones used for generating different colors of noise. Do not be fooled by the name, it does not produce white noise only. These machines can make all the different colors of noise, with white, pink, blue, brown, violet and grey being the most popular options. And many of these machines shave a collection of natural and ambient sounds that come with them.

Apart from white noise machines, you can find a variety of white noise apps for smartphones that vary with the options of sound selection and quality. Some have extensive noise and natural sound selections, but many more have a limited selection. This depends on how much the app costs.

Electric and ceiling fans can also be used as white noise machines. They produce a soothing whirr, very similar to white noise, and if the whirring is loud enough, you can block outside noise to a noticeable extent.

Noise-cancelling headphones are very useful for sleepers that do not like hearing white noise or any sound during their sleep. Headphone models that do not penetrate the ear but still cover it are the best choice. Similar to headphones, you can get earplugs that block outside noise. They mold to the contours of the user’s ear and effectively block all sounds. However, contrary to headphones, long-term use is not recommended for earplugs because they can cause many problems like earwax buildup and tinnitus.

Benefits of Falling Asleep to Ambient Noise

Each color of noise has its benefits that fit the needs of different sleepers. White noise is best for sleepers who like intense noise and live in very loud neighborhoods, or expect to be sleeping in loud environments. Pink noise is for individuals that like deep and bass-driven sounds, similar to thunderstorms. Brown noise is ideal for those who love hearing soothing noises, similar to a waterfall or falling waves. Blue noise is helpful for people who like high-pitched noises, like those you can hear from harsh wind. Violet noise is also for those who like high-pitched sounds, but they prefer noises similar to whistling kettles. Grey noise fits people who love hearing static at a constant volume.

As we mentioned before, there are many benefits to using white noise and other noise colors. Here are certain general benefits environmental noise can offer you.

Effective Noise Blocking

These noises have audible frequencies that block all outside noises. Music can also block noises if it matches the frequency, but it has been proven to be less effective to block different frequencies. It does an excellent job at masking the sound of office machines, loud congestion area, co-workers, roommates, and it can create a more productive environment.

Helpful For Infants

It is a good sleep aid for adults, but it can also help babies. The noises have proven to have a calming effect on infants and newborns before their bedtime. They also have a relaxing effect during meals and feeding. It also helps older children that have sleep problems.

Improves Concentration

Adults or children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or even other disorders, have poor sleep problems. Attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) usually happens to a child that is about to go into puberty, and it can continue to last in adulthood too.  The symptoms of these disorders can severely impact sleep. Children with ADHD have sleep issues and heightened daytime sleepiness. Among the symptoms are also difficulty waking up early, bedtime anxiety, occasional parasomnias, and sleep onset and/or maintenance problems. Noise therapy, especially white noise therapy, is often used to help increase cognitive function and concentration for individuals with these problems. Additionally, listening to white noise during the day – during work or studying, has positive effects on concentration too.

Improved Sleep Onset and Maintenance

Sleep onset is the process in which you fall asleep, and sleep maintenance is the ability to be asleep. Noise, in particular, white and pink, have proven to be helpful for falling asleep, and for improving sleep maintenance and sleep onset. There are white noise machines and apps that have sleep timers that are very effective for these issues. These machines can be programmed to last until morning, so you will be able to listen to ambient noise during the whole night.

Handy Travel Help

Individuals that travel a lot have many difficulties with falling asleep while traveling with trains, planes, buses or any other form of transportation. In these cases, white noise serves as a useful aid for sleeping and for blocking noise in any loud setting. Many white noise machines that are available on the market today have a headphone jack.

Here’s to the caregivers. The noble, selfless people taking on the responsibility to always be on-call for another person in need. Here’s to the ones who spend countless hours helping their loved ones. 

While we truly appreciate what you do for your loved ones, we have a question for you – If you spend countless hours helping out, when are you sleeping? 

With all of your other responsibilities, hobbies, and plans, we bet your sleep and sleeping patterns are utterly destroyed. To find the time to sleep seems intangible. You need to be relaxed enough to fall asleep. Do you find your caregiving responsibilities hindering your ability to relax? 

In our quest to promote healthy sleep, we set out to arm ourselves with knowledge about how caregiving negatively impacts your sleep causing fatigue, stress, and what is commonly referred to as ‘caregiver burnout’. We’ve read up on some studies to try and understand the challenges that you’re facing and what you’re going through, and we’ve taken the time to prepare some useful tips on what to do when the caregiving life starts taking its toll on your sleep. 

So, without further ado, let’s dive right into it. 

What the studies say? 

Oh, the number of studies (like this one or this one over here) exploring the idea that caregiving is linked to how good you sleep all say the same thing – Caregiving is undoubtedly characterized by a lot less sleep and longer time to fall asleep. People not only report poorer sleep but greater fatigue, stress, and symptoms of depression. 

Let’s give attention to the stress caregiving comes with. The idea of holistic health is to have every part of your life very well balanced. And when you are in a position to care for a loved that’s suffering from dementia or cancer, the balance quickly dissipates. The primary reason? It’s so darn stressful! Add the fact that a lot of caregiving is done at night to the mix, and you’ll begin to understand why you complain about your sleep deprived self. Continuously waking up at night directly impacts your sleep-wake cycles and when this turns into a habit, the quality of your sleep starts to deteriorate exponentially. 

We’ve drifted a little bit. Let’s get back to the stress part. While caregivers report high spiritual well-being and social support, they also report stress so particularly intense that it finds its own term in the medicinal vocabulary – caregiver burden. 

What’s more concerning is that a fifth of caregivers turn to smoking, liquor or sleep meds to help them cope with everything that’s going on, and all of that leads to addiction all too often. 

It’s a never-ending cycle. Stress leads to sleep deprivation and insomnia, caregiving becomes more challenging due to the impact on your overall health. All of that leads to even more stress which in turn creates even more difficulty in maintaining sleep. Complete the cycle a few times and watch as you begin to feel the symptoms of caregiver burnout. 

Caregivers, beware of sleep deprivation 

Make a habit of not getting enough sleep for too long, and watch as you slowly get sucked into the realm of chronic sleep deprivation. What’s even more troubling is that if you let sleep deprivation hit you on your forehead, you will put your loved one at risk. 

You see, the sleep-deprived not only have trouble focusing, but their reaction times also get all slow and sluggish. Hell, you might even start forgetting where you put your keys, let alone trying to take care of a loved one properly. Sleep deprivation is a sort of caregivers’ hell – especially if your to-do list contains something important as administering medication. Research after research clearly shows that healthcare professionals who do their job while they’ve had an hour of sleep the last 4 nights are more likely to make mistakes and put their patients at risk. 

Let’s connect all of it now. Think of it like this. Less and poorer quality sleep equals emotional instability. Being sleep deprived means affecting the REM phase that helps your subconscious process all the things that had an emotional impact you the day before. Without balanced REM sleep, you basically turn into emotional wreckage. Your fuse will become shorter and shorter, you will find yourself throwing anger tantrums, oh and you will cry over the smallest of setbacks. 

While REM regulates emotions, deep sleep regulates your physique. During the deep sleep phase, your body does the much-needed restorative work from the physical efforts the day before. Since being a caregiver is a job that involves emotional stability as much as physical health, going through the phase of deep sleep is incredibly important. 

Further down the road of sleep deprivation comes weight gain. Getting into the habit of missing out on your sleep dysregulates leptin production – the hormone responsible for regulating your appetite. It’s interesting how sleep deprivation plays tricks on you and overproduce ghrelin instead – ghrelin is the criminal hormone that makes us crave fatty, sugary food. Fast forward this scenario a month or two, and we’re certain you are already 10 pounds overweight, wishing you’d never got into caregiving. Woah, let’s not go there, what you are doing is selfless and noble – always remember that. 

Let’s get back on the subject. We’ve got sleep deprivation affecting your REM, your deep sleep, your weight gain, so what’s next on the agenda? 

Your immune system. The more you are sleep deprived, the less you are well-rested, resulting in the probability that you will catch a cold going through the roof and up into the skies! If you’re sick, you can’t properly care for someone else, now can you? 

All of this sounds incredibly intimidating, but not as intimidating as long-term sleep deprivation. The kind that turns one restless night into hundreds, the kind that has you on the ropes of serious health issues like cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, endocrine disorders, kidney disease, altered immune functioning and full-blown depression.

To top it all off, not scheduling some “me” time that includes lots of sleep means you are missing out on all sorts of other activities that make life worth living. Let’s see how you answer a few questions. When’s the last time you’ve spent some quality time friends with family? When’s the last time you’ve read a book or enjoyed a movie? When’s the last time you had a good night’s sleep? And let us tell you – being able to answer positively on all these questions starts with a good night’s sleep. 

Counting sheep’s advice for caregivers 

How much sleep does one need exactly? While the recommended amount for adults ranges from 7 to 8 hours per night, most caregivers sleep less than that. 

It’s a problem you should tackle head on, caregivers. Get better sleep, we beg of you. Start devising a plan to achieve it right now. Both you and your loved ones will be grateful for it. Not only will you feel better, but you’ll also do your job better, and you’ll do it with a smirk on your face. 

Since we desperately want to lend you a helping hand, we’ve prepared several pieces of advice and tips on how to get your overall holistic health back through better sleep. So, here we go. 

Seek assistance 

Remember Lord of the Rings? Frodo was given a duty to fulfill, but over the course of the plot, we find out that he couldn’t have done it without the help of his friends. It’s the same with caregiving. It’s just too much of a burden to bear for one person. That’s why it’s a good idea to seek assistance. Reach out to professional caregivers, look for respite care services, maybe even discuss moving to assisted living facilities with your loved one. Other than that, form an emotional support system around you. Your family members and friends are there to lend a helping hand. See what they can do for you. They could take on a shift once a week. Even if it’s something small as going to the supermarket or walking your dog for you, it will make the exhausting burden of caregiving just a little more bearable. 

Bedroom is the room you sleep in

We often think of bedrooms as sacred temples reserved for sleep, restoration, and recovery only. You should too. What this means is that you should avoid doing anything other than sleep in your bedroom. No activities. No work. No worries. No stress. And especially no caregiving. In fact, go the distance to devoid all the clutter in your bedroom reminding you of work or responsibilities. 

When we said to think of your bedroom as a sacred temple, we weren’t kidding. Make an effort to keep your bedroom cool, quiet, and dark. Invest in a mattress that’s cozy and comfy. Buy incense sticks or essential oils to help soothe you when you go to sleep. Get a houseplant that can purify the air and help induce sleep. 

Maintain a good sleeping hygiene 

Quality sleep begins with quality habits. Think about it – would heavy meals or heavy exercise right before bedtime help you to have a good night’s sleep? Will liquor and coffee do your sleeping hygiene any good after hours? 

Don’t stop there, though. Make absolutely sure you turn off any tech and electrical gadgetry before dream time. Electrical devices emit blue light that your brain transcodes as sunlight itself. In simpler words, blue light makes you think it’s daytime which will make a lot harder to fall asleep. 

Maintain a tight sleep schedule 

As we’ve already discussed – good habits equal good sleep. A tight sleep schedule is imperative for maintaining regular sleeping patterns. Make going to bed and waking up at the same time every day your habit. The more you practice this, the easier it will be to wake up and fall asleep at pre-set times. 

Make your days stress-free

This can be tough to squeeze in with all your responsibilities, but daytime exercise can help you de-stress and release negative energy. The ideal time for a workout that will help improve your sleep is in the morning. 

Another thing you can do to unwind and decompose during the day is yoga. Not only will you stay fit and flexible, but you will learn all the breathing exercises that go a long way in eliminating stress. 

Make your nights stress-free 

We will say it yet again. The third time’s the charm – good habits equal good life. Following this golden nugget, make a routine before bedtime too. Give soothing activities a go before bed. Take a bubble bath. Meditate your stress away. Put the breathing exercises you learned at yoga to good use. As you practice these activities, you will find your mind and body slowly starting to relax and get into a state where falling asleep is a piece of cake. 

Journal your worries away 

Journaling is that one-takes-care-of-all-things method of de-stressing. Not only will you find resolutions to your problems through writing, but you will also have a way to emotionally vent. Think about it as a medium in which you can express worry, anger, and frustration instead of throwing tantrums at other people. You will also have the opportunity to reflect on your experiences and challenges as a caregiver. To top off all of these benefits, journaling also provides a well-deserved break. Seriously, every time you feel like you are going to implode, take just 10 minutes a day to journal your stresses away.

Camping is an excellent option for people who want to take some rest from everyday worries and stress and spend a couple of days away from modern conveniences. It is a perfect way to spend some quality time alone or with friends, being close to nature and enjoying peace and quiet. If you need to recharge your batteries a bit, take your mind off worries at least for a little while, and reset your internal clock, going camping with friends will do the trick. However, you should keep in mind that the way you sleep can be a make–or–break factor that can affect your entire trip. Many people simply can’t sleep well at a campground because of a variety of reasons. Of course, camping is a peaceful way to spend time with close friends, but it doesn’t mean that you will enjoy a night of quality rest away from the comfort of your bedroom. In case you want to get a good night’s rest while camping and appreciate fresh air and starry night skies properly rested, we will suggest some tips that will make this possible.  

Be Careful When Choosing Your Campsite 

If you decide to go camping, you need to keep in mind that the right choice of the campsite is crucial when setting up your tent, and it can not only affect your sleep but your entire trip as well. It is crucial to find a flat space for your tent, and if it is not possible and you have a slight hill, your head should always be uphill. Also, make sure to clean the ground from twigs and rocks, as if you don’t do it, you will feel these things beneath your tent, which is often far from comfortable. You should also opt for softer grounds, such as pine needles and grass, and if you notice any large rocks, be sure to remove them. Another thing that you should avoid is pitching your tent too close to bushes and trees, as they may brush against them during a breeze, which not only sounds annoying but can also damage your tent and prevent you from getting the rest that you deserve. Remember that the choice of the campsite can have a huge impact on your sleep quality.  

Be Wise When Choosing Your Tentmates 

You should know that the choice of people you go on a camping trip with can significantly influence your sleep, especially if you all stay in the same tent. It doesn’t take long for a tent to become overcrowded, and relaxing and being able to sleep easily in this environment can be a bit tricky. Things get even worse if your tentmates can’t stop talking in the evening, and prevent you from getting enough shut-eye by doing so. Snoring tentmates also contribute to poor sleep, and so does tossing and turning frequently during the night. Sleeping only a few inches from snoring people who toss and turn a lot probably won’t result in restful shut-eye. If you want to sleep well while camping, you need to know everything about the sleep habits of your friends or consider resting solo and pitching your tent far away from your friends. You can also convince your spouse to go camping with you as you are already used to sleeping in the same bed and already know everything about each other’s sleep and pre-sleep habits. 

Pick the Right Tent 

If you want to enjoy the benefits of restful nights when camping, your choice of tents can be crucial. Many different models are available on the market with various features, and you should pick a model that fits your wishes and needs. A critical thing that you need to take into consideration is the size. Different sizes are available, from those that fit one person to large tents that can accommodate up to 15 people. However, whatever you want in a tent, you should go for one size larger. For example, if you are planning to go camping only with your spouse, you should get a model made for three sleepers, as it will ensure that you have extra space for your belongings, or to sprawl out more comfortably. Materials used are also vital when it comes to choosing the right tent, and you should go for a weatherproof model. Make sure that your tent is well-ventilated, especially if you are going on a trip during the summer, and insulated, which is critical when camping during colder months.  

Choose the Right Sleeping Bag 

People who want to go camping can’t buy just any sleeping bag as not all of them are the same. It is not a good idea to buy the first one that you see in a store. If you have the right model that is ideal for your sleeping habits, situation, and temperature, it will help you sleep well. Keep in mind that sleeping bags differ in ratings, and you should pick the one that fits your needs and is the right choice for temperatures that you are expecting. However, this rating can vary depending on the manufacturer, and it is the best idea to check reviews to see what others have to say about it. Another thing that you should consider is the size of a sleeping bag, and it depends on your sleeping habits. For example, if you turn over a lot per night, a standard size may lack room, and if this is the case, you should opt for larger sizes that have enough space for movement. 

Don’t Forget to Bring the Right Bedding 

A wide variety of options is available when it comes to tent bedding products. If you want to rest comfortably throughout the night and have the proper bed cushioning, you should opt for some type of sleep platforms. The most popular type are air mattresses. They are an ideal and deluxe option for this type of trips, and they are very comfortable and resemble home mattresses. The right camping mattress can improve your sleep a lot. However, air models can be heavy, which is not always a perfect solution, and you should also have a pump to inflate them. Self-inflating foam pads are compressible mattresses that have a spongy foam, and the shell is made of nylon that is waterproof. When you twist the valve, the vacuum will fill and expand the foam. These pads are very lightweight, compactable, and offer extra comfort. A regular foam tent sleeping pad is excellent for sleeping on cold or frozen ground and can be used on rough surfaces (as opposed to inflatable pads). These models are light, budget-friendly, and have excellent insulation, but they can be a bit bulky. Finally, air pads are lightweight and comfortable, but they don’t come with auto-inflation. If you want to know how to make tent camping comfortable, you should keep in mind that having the right pillow is vital. The most popular solution is choosing inflatable pillows as they are very comfortable and lightweight. You can also bring the pillow that you use in your bedroom. Down pillows and memory foam pillows are excellent for camping as they are very comfortable and will help you sleep better. If you, by any chance, don’t forget to bring a pillow, you can always use a substitute. 

Warm Your Sleeping Bag 

The idea of getting into a cold bed is not appealing to most people, and if you want to avoid something like this on a trip, you should warm up your sleeping bag before going to sleep. These bags are not warm on their own and they take heat from the body instead and hold it thanks to their insulation. If you want to crawl into a warm sleeping bag in the evening, one of the ways to do this is to boil a pot of water an hour before bedtime, let it cool a bit, and pour it into a heat-resistant water bottle. You should put this bottle into your sleeping bag as it will warm it up. Be sure to check if it is closed tightly first. Another thing to try is to use sleeping bag liners or stuff in extra clothing into your bag. 

Wear Proper Clothes 

Choosing the right clothes for your camping trip is equally important as picking the right sleeping bag. If you are going on this trip during the summer, the last thing you want is to be sweaty while inside your sleeping bag. That’s why you should plan ahead and never go unprepared. It is the best idea to sleep in loose and light clothing in warm weather, and if you are still hot, you should sleep in your underwear. It is up to you to choose the most suitable option.  

On the other hand, if you are camping in cold weather, you surely don’t want to strip down to your underwear and spend the entire night like that. Instead, you need to opt for thicker clothes that will help you stay warm. Just make sure you don’t wear too many layers as something like this will not only restrict your movements but it also won’t help you sleep better at night. The best choice for cold weather is a sweatshirt and a pair of sweatpants of medium thickness. No matter the weather, always make sure that you sleep in clean PJs and clothes, as dirty clothes are not ideal for sleeping and it won’t help you feel fresh in the morning. 

Bring Earplugs 

Some campers prefer drifting off to dreamland to the sounds of nature, while others can’t stand the sound of bugs, animals, and other camping noises at night, and can’t relax properly. If you fall into the second category, you can block this noise with earplugs. They will also help you if your camping buddies are chatting until the late hours, or snoring while sleeping. Many different sounds are around when camping, and they can disrupt your sleep. Luckily, earplugs can help you prevent something like this. They are a very cheap and small solution that can be found in supermarkets. Thanks to them, you will enjoy a good night’s rest without having to worry about whether the outside noise will wake you up or not. 

Be Active During the Day 

If you want to sleep better at night, you will increase your chances of achieving this goal if you go hiking, paddling, fishing, or do whatever else comes to mind, instead of sitting around the campfire the entire day eating hot dogs and marshmallows. Wearing yourself with physical activity during the day will tire your body and help you drift off to sleep easier in the evening. Breathing in fresh air will also improve your sleep. When the evening comes, you will sleep like a baby because of the exhaustion from daily physical activity. 

Stick to Your Normal Sleep Schedule 

If you want to sleep better at night, it is the best idea to stick to your at-home schedule. One of the things that contribute to poor sleep is a routine that is constantly changing. If you want to get enough good night’s rest, you need to maintain a consistent schedule even when going camping. It means that, if you are used to going to bed at 10 p.m. you should go to sleep at the same time, even if you are on a trip. In case you decide to go to bed earlier, you may not be able to drift off to dreamland because of your circadian rhythms. Luckily, you don’t have to go to work in the morning, which means that you can sleep late. 

Drink Herbal Tea by the Campfire 

Many people love drinking hot chocolate and eating marshmallows at a campfire, but the caffeine and sugar that chocolate contains may affect your sleep in a negative way. That’s why it is a much better idea to opt for herbal teas that will relax your body and mind and prepare you for bed, especially chamomile tea. However, don’t forget to limit the fluid intake close to bedtime, as the last thing you want is to wake up in the middle of the night with a full bladder in need of a toilet. Something like this certainly won’t help your sleep. 

People can encounter many obstacles that consistently prevent them from getting a good night’s sleep, which affects their health, daily performance and overall quality of life. From emergencies that cost you a night or two of sleep or sleep disorders that regularly leave you feeling exhausted during the day and anxious during bedtime, to bad lifestyle habits that interfere with your circadian rhythm – it’s very easy to lose sleep for a variety of reasons.

Visiting a doctor is always the best course of action if you identify sleeping problems, no matter how they manifest (i.e., whether you have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, waking up on time, etc.). Regardless of what type of diagnostic method they opt for, the advice you get will often sound the same, at least partially. A lot of what causes sleeping problems lies in our daily life, and the habits that we adopt almost without noticing. Those habits could include eating unhealthy food, avoiding exercise, spending too much time in front of screens, staying up late to watch films, or any other similar thing. During your examination(s), you are asked questions about your lifestyle that help the doctor determine where you’re making mistakes.

One of the most common suggestions for dealing with sleeping problems of any kind (including those caused by sleep disorders) is to establish a bedtime routine or engage in sleep preparation. In this article, we will go over common sleep preparation practices and tips on how you can help yourself fall asleep without the use of risky prescription medication or over-the-counter solutions. Let’s get into it.

How It All Works

Sleep preparation is a flexible process in that you can customize your routine based on your personal preferences, medical history and a variety of other factors. The only common factor ends up being the time invested into this routine each day. Most doctors suggest starting a bedtime routine about an hour before you get into bed, but that’s only because people’s schedules usually don’t allow more. Ideally, you’d start unwinding around two hours before trying to fall asleep, and slowly remove sources of stimulation that keep you awake.

Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia works this way, too. The idea is that a good bedtime routine and some stimulus control helps you make a mental connection between your bed and sleep (and sex). If you can eliminate sleep-destroying habits in the evening and avoid using your bed other than for sleeping and sex, it can reduce your sleep onset latency without you even noticing. Sleep preparation often also comes down to creating a healthy sleep environment that keeps distractions away and improves things such as air circulation and the levels of lighting in the room. We will list off various things you can try to establish a bedtime routine that suits you specifically.

Natural Sleep Aids

If you’re afraid of prescription medication for sleep (and we don’t blame you, it comes with a variety of really unpleasant side-effects), there is a safer alternative you can try – natural sleep aids. Understanding natural sleep aids requires having a solid grasp on how your circadian rhythm works, so we’ll explain it briefly here. The circadian rhythm is maintained by a sort of biological master clock that’s located in your brain stem. This clock uses light receptors to tell the time of day to convince your body to start winding down for the night when the time comes. Many processes in your body depend on this rhythm, and things like appetite, blood sugar regulation, and libido are all easily connected to it. However, there are many ways to disturb your circadian rhythm, which throws your entire body off balance (figuratively) and causes potentially severe health concerns. Once your circadian rhythm is disrupted, it can be very hard to get it back on track without serious discipline (and often help).

For the purposes of sleep, the main process that is hurt by a disrupted rhythm is melatonin production. Melatonin is the hormone that forces you to fall asleep eventually, and its production can be crippled by things like alcohol consumption and excessive caffeine intake, among other factors. Natural sleep aids aim to improve your melatonin production, relieve anxiety and induce relaxation through ingredients such as tart cherry juice (which can and should be consumed on its own if you can find it near you), lemon balm extract and valerian root. Some products just give you a straight shot of melatonin directly, which helps you fall asleep quicker once the effect kicks in.

If you can’t afford these aids, you can rely on more accessible substances to improve your chances of falling asleep quickly. We’ve mentioned tart cherry juice, but milk is probably in your fridge right now, and it can be used as an improvised sleeping aid if you implement it as part of your bedtime routine.

Creating the Ideal Sleeping Environment

Environmental factors in your bedroom or outside your window have a huge influence on how well you can sleep during the night. For example, the difference between noisy traffic outside and perfect silence is massive in the context of falling or staying asleep. While this is the most expensive part of sleep preparation, every penny is worth making sure you can get enough rest to stay healthy and productive at work – appropriate bedroom accessories can “pay for themselves” through this benefit. The first step towards solving problems in your immediate sleeping environment is to identify them. Once you’re aware of what’s damaging your sleep, you can get products that solve those problems for you.

If you have to deal with noise while trying to sleep, no matter where it comes from (i.e., from other rooms or the outside), you want to invest in something that either reduces that noise or drowns it out. White noise machines or bedroom fans are popular options for many people, as we’re often more capable of relaxing when exposed to a consistent source of sound (usually a car engine, bedroom fan whirring, etc.). Keeping a bedroom fan active also helps improve air circulation, which is essential for healthy sleep. A stuffy room can single-handedly cause a headache for some people, so its effects on sleep should not be ignored – and since opening windows might expose your home to burglars, a fan could be the ideal solution.

Speaking of burglars, home security can play an indirect role in hurting your sleep prospects. Feeling like your home is never safe creates a lot of anxiety and stress, which can destroy your sleeping schedule. For this reason, it may be wise to invest in security cameras, door bolts, window bars and similar ways of keeping unwanted guests out. Being prepared for emergencies such as floods and fires can also contribute to a sense of safety and help you relax.

Blue light and electronics interfere with your biological clock by making it confused about the time of day. It is no coincidence that people who watch TV a lot or spend a ton of time in front of smartphones or computer screens tend to have poor sleep quality overall. If you can afford to do so (that is, when you’re not expecting an important call or alarm), turn off your smartphone during the night, or at least place it on the opposite side of the room. The same goes for any personal computers or TV monitors; everything should be turned off for at least an hour before you go to bed if you can help it.

Physical Well-Being and Relaxation

One of the questions you can expect to encounter when you visit a doctor and explain your sleeping problems is related to how much exercise you get. Exercise plays an important role in your body in multiple ways, from muscle development and immunity to improved hormone balance and relaxation during sleeping hours. No matter what’s causing your sleep problems (including a full-blown sleep disorder), the chances are that regular exercise is a great habit to pick up if you want to alleviate the problem. Make sure not to overwork yourself, as this can cause pain for as long as several days, which naturally keeps you from falling asleep easily, even with a top-quality mattress supporting your body. Additionally, avoid any intense exercises in the evening hours, and instead perform them in the morning or early afternoon to avoid putting stress on your body when it needs to unwind.

Exercise isn’t the only option, however. Planning your diet is equally important, as eating sugary, greasy or otherwise unhealthy food is harmful to your sleep onset latency and sleep quality in general. Above all, steer clear of alcohol and coffee in the evening hours – these two substances are listed as contributing factors to a massive number of sleep disorders and similar problems. A light meal in the evening is not a bad idea, as going to bed on an empty stomach doesn’t help you get good rest.

Relaxation techniques are an excellent way to improve your bedtime routine. These include different meditation techniques, breathing exercises, yoga routines, and similar activities. Don’t exert yourself too much, and focus on stretching and relieving pain and pressure from your body. Meditation can also train your mind to create a positive association with your bed, so you can avoid feeling bedtime anxiety. If you’re dealing with back pain, shoulder pain, neck pain or any similar problem, getting a massage is a great idea from time to time. Naturally, you should aim to avoid the pain before it can occur, so invest in a good mattress for your chosen sleeping position and avoid putting a lot of weight on your joints if you don’t have to.

A trip or two each week to the local sauna can do wonders for your body in many ways, and sleep quality is one of them. You don’t have to make it a daily thing, but make sure that you head in one or twice per week for decent results. The increased body heat starts to drop once you leave the sauna, and that effect pairs well with how your body naturally gets colder as it starts to switch to “sleep mode.” Some toxins and metals like mercury also vacate your body primarily through sweat, so a combination of healthy, planned exercise and sauna visits can keep you healthy and ready to doze off in the evening.

Life is full of distractions; whether it’s demanding work obligations, navigating your social life or pursuing a hobby, there are many activities and problems to concern yourself with. Our daily lives are so hectic that we regularly lose track of our basic needs and potentially serious problems at home. Most of the time, this negligence results in a bad diet or poorly organized daily routine. However, one of the most often overlooked aspects of our daily (and nightly) life is home security and safety in general . Feeling safe is one of the critical prerequisites to our comfort and relaxation, which is why home safety is such a huge part of being able to sleep healthily.

Sit down and try to think about how many potential injuries and burglaries are waiting to happen thanks to how you’ve organized your home and how much you’ve invested in safety measures. There are many ways you can improve the safety of your sleeping environment, and this article will include a variety of tips and methods you can follow. Keep in mind that every living space has its quirks and issues you may have to work through, so you may have to adapt the advice to your specific circumstances. Let’s get into it, shall we?

Tips and Tricks for Preventing Burglaries

Burglaries take up a huge portion of property crime, which often causes various sources to present burglary rates as a separate statistic. If you look it up yourself, you will find out that burglary rates are dropping across the United States. However, this doesn’t mean they’re a non-issue or a minor problem. Because of how unlikely it seems that you would be specifically targeted, people often ignore problems around the house that could give a potential thief an opening to loot your home when you’re not there (or worse, when you’re asleep).

Burglaries also pose a direct danger to anyone present, as the culprit may decide to resort to violence to escape the situation or directly threaten the homeowner or his family. The approach that carries the least amount of risk is always prevention – making sure no one can intrude in the first place. It can be achieved through a variety of methods and, while these methods cost money, any price is acceptable when it comes to making a safe sleeping environment for yourself (and your loved ones). It doesn’t hurt to get creative, as long as you don’t go overboard and create serious hazards that can injure your family or innocent passers-by. Here’s a list of tips:

• Invest in door and window locks. Doors and windows are obvious entry points into your house or apartment and should be treated as safety risks until you secure them properly. Around 20% of Americans rarely or never lock their door, which means burglars don’t even have to try very hard to enter their homes. For ground-level homes, windows are another entry point even if the door is secure. While it takes money to get reliable deadbolts, locks, and window stops, you don’t have to spend a fortune, and it pays off for years to come.

30% of all burglars enter through an unlocked door or window. Remember to secure all exterior doors, not just your front door. Also, while leaving a window open in your bedroom during the night is often very healthy and soothing, you’re putting your home at increased risk. If the window is relatively small, install metal bars that prevent anyone from entering, or invest in window stops that let you open the window just enough to let air in without creating enough space for a potential intruder to squeeze through.

• If you have the budget for them, install security cameras. Just the sight of one is often enough to prevent a burglar from targeting your home, and if they go through with it anyway, you have footage to show to law enforcement.
• Even if you’re asleep, keep the lights on in various rooms in your house. Some smart lights can be programmed to periodically turn on, stay on for some time, and then turn off to save power. If a potential thief thinks people are still awake and active around the house, they’re much less likely to try breaking in. Watch your electricity bill, though.
• Make sure the inside of your home is not too visible to outsiders. If they can’t spot worthwhile valuables to steal, they may not even attempt to break in. The same applies if you have a garage or shed used for storage.
• Getting a dog is a very effective method of detecting or deterring intruders. If your dog is big enough to pose a threat to a burglar, they can single-handedly stop any crime from taking place. Make it super-obvious that you have a dog, too – put a couple of dog toys in your front yard if you have one, and put a sign somewhere saying “Beware of Dog” – these last two methods can work even if you don’t have a dog!

Sleepwalking and Hazards In Your Home

If you’ve been reading articles on this website in the past, you probably already know how troublesome certain sleep disorders can be. Whether it’s sleep apnea, bruxism or restless legs syndrome, there are a plethora of problems you could be facing while trying to get quality rest. For the purposes of home safety, however, we will look over a specific category of disorders – parasomnias. This group of disorders is characterized by abnormal behavior and movement during sleep. This behavior can range from teeth grinding (otherwise known as bruxism) all the way to sleepwalking, where the person moves around their home in a hybrid state of wakefulness and sleep.

Sleepwalking is what we’re going to focus on here, but remember that certain other disorders (parasomnias or sleep-related movement disorders) can be relevant as well. While sleepwalking itself isn’t harmful to the person in question, they put themselves at huge risk of injury by roaming “blindly” around their living space. If they encounter a set of stairs (especially ones leading down), sharp corners or slippery floors, they can easily fall and suffer serious harm (or worse). To prevent this type of accident, or at least minimize the impact of a potential fall, you should examine your house carefully:

• Try to keep a soft carpet in as many places as possible, especially rooms where you know the sleepwalker tends to roam. It can soften the blow of falling over and prevent serious injuries or bruises.
• If at all possible, turn as many sharp furniture corners towards the wall in a way that makes them untouchable for the sleepwalker. If it’s not feasible in certain locations, put something less dangerous in the way (such as a chair with smooth edges and round corners).
• If the person regularly jerks their legs or tosses around in their room, move furniture away from the bed and install sturdy (but smooth) bed railing. These methods reduce the risk of injury near the bed.
• Keep a light on in the bathroom (or in all of them if you have more than one). Sleepwalkers are often drawn to light sources and tend to relieve themselves during their “journey.” Make sure the bathroom light is on, so they go to the correct place.

Preparing For Emergencies

Depending on where you live, different kinds of emergencies and disasters will be more common. However, floods and fires can happen just about anywhere, so there is no excuse for not being prepared to quickly evacuate and stay safe. If your area is susceptible to a natural disaster, it can be hard to feel completely safe in your own home. There are a handful of measures you can take to prepare yourself for the worst.

First of all, be informed about potential emergencies. There are apps for Android and iOS that are specifically designed to alert you of incoming disasters, and it never hurts to tune into the news once per day. You can also contact the Red Cross in your local area to find out exactly what kind of disaster you can expect to see at some point in the future. The more you know, the smarter your decisions can be.

Additionally, prepare an emergency kit. Not only is a set of first aid supplies useful to have in general, but you also want to store canned food and similar resources for when trouble happens. For every person in the family, pack around 1 gallon of water, and store as much long-lasting food as you can comfortably afford. Prepare sets of spare keys and maps of your town so you can navigate in the dark or during floods. A multi-purpose tool like a swiss army knife also helps, as it can get you out of trouble in a pinch, and help open food cans and sort out other small issues.

A commonly overlooked part of an emergency kit is a set of documents belonging to each family member. From ID cards to medical histories to anything else you can think of, it is incredibly smart to have emergency information available at a moment’s notice. This information helps medical staff, law enforcement, emergency relief volunteers and similar groups help you in a way that is most suitable, especially when it comes to medication allergies.

Be aware of every escape route you have available at home. Whether you’re being threatened by a fire, flood or earthquake, it is crucial to know how you can safely and quickly exit your home to avoid accidents and injuries. Plan out routes for each room in your home, so that no matter where a person is, they know how to take care of themselves in case of emergencies.

Quick tip: If you’re worried about fires, make sure all your interior doors are closed. If you do this, fires spread slower, giving you more time to plan your escape and retrieve important items, as well as protect family members.

Moving to a New Town

If you have the time, money and opportunity (usually in regards to work), you may want to consider moving to one of the safest cities in the US. Avoiding natural disasters and seeking low crime rates is a smart approach to ensuring a high level of home security, even if indirectly. If you’re trying to avoid crime, you typically want to look away from large cities like Chicago or Las Vegas and towards smaller places like Thousand Oaks. Safe cities also tend to come with other benefits, such as well-funded schools, good job opportunities and well-maintained parks – however, be ready to suffer living expense increases, like the rent, and purchase prices for apartments and houses here can be a bit steep.

Sleep-related breathing disorders cause partial or complete obstruction of one’s respiratory system during sleep, resulting in many complications such as low blood oxygen, high blood pressure, even heart attack or stroke. The severity of the symptoms varies between the different types of breathing disorders, including obstructive sleep apnea, central and mixed sleep apnea, sleep-related hypoventilation and more. The most common one, the obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) affects about 20% of men and 9% of women in the US alone, which is a big increase comparing to the estimated 3% of the population in the 90s. This is believed to be due to a number of factors, including higher obesity and asthma rates, pollution, but also due to a more precise diagnostic system – polysomnography was discovered and readjusted at the end of the 20th century to monitor respiratory airflow and some other breathing-related functions in our bodies during sleep. To date, it remains the one sure way to diagnose this sleep disorder, also measuring one’s heart rhythm, brain activity, eye movements and so forth.

Several options exist for treating OSA, the most widespread and efficient one involving a CPAP machine. This choice has been proven time and time again as the most effective and remains a go-to option in most circumstances unless it isn’t adhered to for a period long enough to work. Many people find CPAP uncomfortable and stop using it as soon as their OSA starts to feel better. As a result, the disorder symptoms return in full swing, and a recent study highlights this as the main reason for hospital readmissions among OSA patients. Before we get into the study, we will review OSA and CPAP treatments for some context and clarification first.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)

OSA is frequently accompanied by loud snoring, interrupted by periods when the airflow is reduced or blocked. This is followed by choking or gasping for air which usually wakes up the person, but only for a brief moment before they resume sleep. Depending on how often this happens, OSA can be:

• Mild – the episode happens 5-14 times every hour
• Moderate – the incident occurs 15-30 times every hour
• Severe – the event occurs over 30 times every hour

Everybody is at a lower or higher risk of developing OSA, depending on some contributing factors such as:

• Weight. High blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes are all linked to obesity and known to increase your chance for developing OSA as well.
• Neck size – over 17 inches for men, and over 16 inches for women increase the risk of OSA.
• Age. The older you are, the more chances you have at developing OSA, at least until you hit 60. Statistically, the incidence rate drops after that age.
• Sex. Men are at least two times more likely to develop OSA than women, possibly due to their higher obesity rates and larger neck dimensions.
• Allergies and asthma both increase the risk because of more sensitive airways, increased mucus production and congestion.
• Family history. The exact predisposing genetic factor isn’t known yet, but its existence is evident, given that you are more likely to experience OSA if you have a relative who suffers it, too.
• Retrognathia, meaning that your lower jaw is smaller than the upper one.
• Narrow airways. These sometimes naturally “happen,” perhaps due to a larger than average tongue or enlarged tonsils.

Treatments usually consist of some lifestyle changes and some specialty therapy with machines like CPAP (more about that in a bit).

Lifestyle changes include:

• Weight loss – beneficial for everybody whose BMI is outside of the optimal.
• Switching sleeping positions from back to the side, preferably left, as this aligns the organs and the spine properly while reducing snoring and airway obstruction.
• Avoiding opioids such as alcohol, pills, cigarettes, etc.
• Managing secondary conditions if they are present – asthma or allergies, GI issues or another medical condition.
• Nasal sprays if congestion is what disrupts the breathing.

CPAP therapy

Continuous positive air pressure (CPAP) is a type of PAP treatment most suitable for OSA and some other breathing conditions. It is a machine that is put next to a patient’s bed, connected to a mask they’re supposed to put on at bedtime via a hose. The treatment lasts the entire night. The machine humidifies the air and provides it with high pressure directly into the mask, hence the name. This enables the patient’s airways to remain open, or reduces their obstruction and improves their sleep quality. The duration of this treatment and the specific settings on the CPAP machine depend on the doctor’s prescription based on the severity of your OSA and your overall health. For example, if you have OSA but also some gastrointestinal issue that causes acid reflux, CPAP therapy is not the best option – the air will sometimes stray and pass through the esophagus which is already weak enough, thus exacerbating acid reflux.

Nonadherence to CPAP associated with increased 30-day hospital readmissions

Specialists sought out to discover the effect of nonadherence to CPAP on hospital readmissions expecting to get the general overview of the situation so they conducted this study including 345 patients at the VA Long Beach Medical Center that satisfied the criteria (they were diagnosed with OSA, hospitalized at some point or another from January 2007 to December 2015 and prescribed CPAP therapy). Out of that number, 183 people adhered to their CPAP therapy while 162 didn’t. The purpose of the study was to establish the effect of nonadherence in terms of all-cause, cardiovascular-cause and pulmonary-cause hospital readmissions within thirty days after the initial, index admission discharge from the hospital. Excluded were patients without records of adherence to CPAP therapy and polysomnography to confirm OSA, those who passed away in the hospital during index admission and those transferred to another facility within the same day of index admission.

All-cause readmissions include cardiovascular and pulmonary-cause, as well as other cause readmissions such as renal, urologic, gastrointestinal, neurologic, psychiatric, infection, etc.

Cardiovascular-cause readmissions refer to those of congestive heart failure, coronary syndrome, arrhythmia, peripheral cardiovascular disease, and some others.

Pulmonary-cause readmissions were due to pulmonary hypertension, asthma, hypoxia, obesity hypoventilation, pulmonary embolism, and interstitial lung disease.

The average age of the patients from the adherent group was 66.3 years, and 62.3 in the nonadherent group. This, along with the patients’ sex, BMI, race, environment, and home conditions, the overall state of health and medical history was taken into account before measuring the results. Although the CPAP adherent group was older on average, the expected increase, especially in cardiovascular-cause of readmission, wasn’t apparent. The incidence rate both for all-cause and cardiovascular-cause readmissions was significantly higher in the nonadherent group, and their stay in the hospital was slightly longer, too.

Results

The study confirmed an existing hypothesis that not sticking with your CPAP treatment plan is more likely to get you back into the hospital.

The cardiovascular causes were due to atrial fibrillation (29.0%), myocardial ischemia (22.5%), and congestive heart failure (19.3%), and to no surprise, because these are often the result of frequent apnea episodes and hypoxemia, both of which are neutralized with CPAP therapy.

The pulmonary-related readmissions were also higher among the nonadherent group, but not as much as initially expected, and not of significance to this study.

All-cause readmission unrelated to the two causes mentioned was mostly urologic (10.7%), infection (8.0%), and psychiatric (5.3%). Specialists are just starting to take a closer look into these factors and their association with OSA and sleep in general.

Limitations and critique

Although its significance is notable if only as a single study, this work has faced a couple of flaws from the start and they are worth mentioning for clarification and readjustments for future studies.

For starters, it was conducted in a Veterans Affairs Medical Center, which is a specific target group and not as general as one would hope for a study of this sort. People from this subject group were predominantly white, male, have a lower income, have a history of substance abuse or have a second existing chronic condition. Cause-consequence effect wasn’t completely transparent either, as with most studies. One can’t be sure that CPAP nonadherence was the reason for a future event, only that the event was more likely to happen to people from the nonadherent group, although researchers did include many other contributing factors.

Further, most of the patients who didn’t make the criteria for this study were excluded because of the lack of sleep clinic follow-up within a year after the first hospitalization.  That excludes their results as well, whether they continued the prescribed CPAP therapy or not.

Lastly, because of its small dimensions, the study might have missed some patterns, while some of the patterns noticed could have proved irrelevant on a larger subject group. For this reason, the study remains more a stepping stone for future research, than a sole authoritative source of information.

Adolescence is such a weird period in everybody’s life, and most of us, simply want to go through this period as fast as possible and become an adult. There are so many changes in a child’s life during this time, from hormones going wild, and getting more responsibilities, to changes in social dynamics, and finally gaining more freedom. Teens become more independent through the choice of after school activities, driving, and getting a part-time job to learn about fiscal responsibility. They also learn about critical thinking and peer pressure, and this period is essential for the further development of a child.

Sleeping well is essential for adolescents, as they are still growing and developing, and they should preferably get 9 hours each night. Unfortunately, with a lot of responsibilities and different activities, teens often choose to sacrifice sleep to get everything else done. Missing necessary rest on a daily basis leads to sleep deprivation that is just terrible for their health. It results in a weakened immune system, impaired memory, decreased learning ability and attention which ultimately leads to worse academic performance, harder time controlling emotions, and increased risk of mental disorders, such as anxiety and depression. To make things even worse, these mental disorders also have an additional impact on sleep, which leads to even shorter rest time per night. Because of all of this, adolescents need to pay special attention to their sleep habits, and researchers think that the best way to do this is to shift school starts a little later in the morning.

Sleep Deprivation and Adolescence

As much as 60% of teens report feeling fatigued during the day, and 15% have even fallen asleep during school. A growing body of evidence tells us that the reason for that is the early morning start, which is something we can change. Academic researchers agree that moving the school start to 8.30 am or later can bring many benefits. Unfortunately, 83% of middle and 93% of high schools start before 8.30 am.

Because of work, school, extracurricular activities, and other responsibilities, 90% of teenagers don’t get the recommended 9 hours of sleep — no wonder why they feel so exhausted. They also further compromise their rest by using electronics late at night. Screens emit blue light that suppresses the production of melatonin, a hormone that is essential for sleep, and basically tells our brain that it’s time to be active. Because of that, it is harder to fall asleep, and there is a higher risk of sleep deprivation.

Sleep deprivation is no joke, as it affects many aspects of our lives, including our cognitive performance. When we lack sleep, our ability to concentrate is impaired, it is harder to obtain and retain new information, and our problem-solving skills are way worse. All of these are much needed for excellent academic performance.

Our emotional well-being is affected by lack of sleep as well. Sleep deprived people are more likely to act irrational, make poor judgments, and have a harder time regulating their mood and temper. Mix that in with a combination of hormones going wild in teenagers, and the effects only get worse. It may cause them to have a hard time coping with the stresses of everyday life and school, and they might turn to alcohol, drugs, and nicotine abuse. Poor decision making can also make them think that it’s okay to drive when they are under the influence of alcohol, or when they are feeling too tired. Car accidents are the number one death cause among teenagers.

Beside affecting us mentally and emotionally, sleep deprivation also has physical consequences. When we don’t get enough sleep, our body’s production of ghrelin and leptin, two hormones responsible for our appetite, is affected. That makes us crave more sugary and fatty foods, and that brings us one step closer to weight gain and obesity. Chronic lack of sleep also increases our chances of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, even certain types of cancer.

Why Don’t They Go to Bed Earlier?

A logical step if you are constantly sleep deprived is to go to bed earlier. Unfortunately, it is not that easy. Teenagers need 9 hours of sleep, compared to 7 to 9 that is recommended for adults. Also, right around the adolescence, there is a natural shift in a body’s circadian rhythms. The production of melatonin starts later in the night compared to childhood, and it also stops later in the morning. Because of that, teenagers tend to go to sleep later and to sleep longer in the morning. This shift is also observed in other animal species during adolescence, so it is entirely normal behavior. Unfortunately, early school start makes them miss the needed sleep, and they just can’t go to bed earlier.

School dictates everything. Teens need to find time to squeeze in other extracurricular activities, jobs, socializing with friends, family obligations, hobbies, and other basic needs like eating and bathing. They also need to contribute to the household by doing chores, and even though they spend a big part of the day at school, they still have homework and extra assignments to do back at home. This brings a lot of stress, and they often willingly choose to compromise their sleep, so that they can have time for all these activities.

To complicate things even more, most teens are not aware of good sleep hygiene, and they often take part in behaviors that are damaging their sleep. The basics of sleeping well are:

• Stick to a regular schedule by going to sleep and waking up at the same time every day, even on weekends.
• Get the right amount of sleep, which is 7 to 9 for adults, 9 for teenagers, and even more for children. Toddlers sleep for 16 hours a day.
• Create a relaxing bedtime routine that helps you unwind before bedtime.
• Sleep in a cool, quiet, dark bedroom, free of any distractions.
• Do not use electronics at least 30 minutes before bed.
• Avoid drinking caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, and eating large meals before bed.

If you have ever come in contact with a teenager, you know that these are the directions they simply don’t follow. They stay up late playing games, watching videos on Youtube, and texting with their friends. Prolonged exposure to bright screens trick their brains into thinking that it is daytime, so it makes it harder to fall asleep when they decide to lay down. They also drink a lot of energy drinks to keep up with responsibilities. Energy drinks and sodas are full of caffeine, and they are proven to disrupt sleep, especially if taken too close to bedtime.

Benefits of Later School Start Times

Current research shows that it can be very beneficial to move the school start time to 8.30 am or later. Generally, students spend that extra time sleeping, and it is significant for their well-being. Some of the benefits are:

• Longer sleep duration
• Increased daytime alertness
• Fewer chances of falling asleep in the class
• Better attendance due to fewer sick days and fatigue
• Decreased risk of depression and anxiety
• Fewer car accidents due to drowsy driving
• Better academic performance (better scores on tests including GPA and college admission test scores)
• Faster reaction times
• Fewer disciplinary actions
• Better relationship with family and friends
• Mood improvement

Unfortunately, even with all of these proven benefits, parents don’t seem to understand the needs of their children. Only around 50% of parents are in favor of moving school start times.

Scientific Research Supporting Later School Starts

One study from 2018 looked at 375 students in Singapore, and how delayed sleep start affected them. Academic success is extremely important in Eastern Asian countries, so researchers were interested in how socially acceptable this delay would be, and how the students would behave. The school agreed to move the start 45 minutes later to determine short and long-term impact on students.

The findings showed that after one month, even though students went to sleep a little later, on average they spent 23.2 minutes more asleep. Nine months later, the effects were a bit smaller, but there was still a 10 minutes increase in sleeping time. Students also reported lower levels of daytime sleepiness and higher levels of emotional well-being at both instances.

The majority of students (89.1%), parents (75.6%), and teachers (67.6%) agreed that the later start times were better for students. It means that it is feasible to delay the school start, even in the culture that often chooses to sacrifice sleep to study more and get better academic performance.

A 2017 study was conducted to see how the delayed start times later than 8.30 am would affect student attendance and graduation rates. They monitored over 30,000 students from 29 different high schools located across seven different states. Interestingly, both the attendance and graduation rates significantly improved, giving the more reason for delaying school starts.

A comprehensive assessment of school starting times in Canada was done in 2016. Researchers wanted to see how this parameter correlated with the quantity of sleep the students were getting. They collected data from 362 schools in Canada, and they surveyed nearly 30,000 students aged 10 to 18. They found out that the average starting time was 8.43 am. And even though students slept for over 8 and a half hours on average on a school night, 60% still felt fatigued in the morning. For every 10 minute delay in starting time, students got 3.2 more minutes of sleep; they were 1.6% more likely to get sufficient sleep, and also 2.1% less likely to feel tired in the morning. As the students who were attending school later reported to get more sleep and feel well-rested in the morning, it just builds a larger case to why we should just quit torturing our kids with early morning wake-ups.

A study done in 2014 by the University of Minnesota, followed over 9,000 students from 8 different public schools. Their goal was to see how the later start time correlated academic performance, overall health, and well-being of students.

The results were not surprising, as the later start times enabled 60% of students to get at least 8 hours of sleep, which is a bare minimum for teenagers. Start of 8.35 am or later meant significantly improved academic performance. Students had higher grades in core subjects such as maths, science, English and social studies. They also performed better on state and national tests. Students’ attendance improved, as there are less sick days because of the better sleep quality, while their daytime fatigue decreased. Students who slept less than 8 hours per night, reported significantly higher symptoms of depression, anxiety, caffeine and substance use. Their grades and overall performance was also much lower. Another key finding is that when a school changed starting time from 7.35 to 8.55 am; there was a massive 70% decrease in teenage car crashes. Sleep-deprived kids were also observed to be more sedentary and prone to junk food, as exercise, eating healthy and sleeping well are all tied together.

A study of nearly 10,000 students from 2008 showed consistent results. Researchers analyzed the effects of one-hour delay on students and car crash accidents. They found out that the total sleep time of students increased by 12 to 36 minutes depending on the grade. The percentage of students getting 8 or more hours of rest risen from 37.5% to 50%, as did the number of kids having at least 9 hours (6.3% to 10.8%). Car crash rates were lower by 16.5%.

Is Changing School Start Times Too Complicated?

Getting sufficient sleep, better academic performance, being well-rested during the day, mood improvement, fewer signs of mental health disorders, lower car crash rates, there are just too many benefits to moving delaying school starts. But why aren’t we doing it?

The main concern that the officials have for this is the cost. They said it would just take too much money, with the most significant chunk going to the adaptation of bus schedules. Current schedules are fitted to high and elementary school needs, so changing this would probably mean that there would need to employ more drivers and rent more buses, which cost a lot. However, if it benefits our children so much, is it really important?

Few researchers have gone as far as predicting that we would economically have a lot of benefits from school delay. There would be far fewer car crashes, and the improved academic performance and better education would mean more economic gain. Not to mention that obesity, suicide, mental disorders, and other health issue rates would drop, which is all beneficial to the economy as well. Let’s cut out all the excuses and do what’s right for our children according to scientific research, and that is delaying school start to 8.30 am or later.

Have you ever had to study for a difficult exam or solve a puzzle that was giving you lots of trouble? A common piece of advice people in your surroundings may offer is to “sleep on it.” While it may be easy to dismiss it all as superstition or vague advice that has little to no practical application, the truth is that your level of productivity can often depend on how much sleep you get the previous night, or during the week overall. The connection between sleep and productivity may not be clear to most people since they don’t understand how sleep affects your body and mind, and while they may be aware of the 8-hour sleep recommendation, they might not have any idea as to why that amount of rest is essential.

That’s where we come in. In this article, we aim to connect sleep and productivity by showing how fatigue can make you much less efficient at whatever you’re doing, as well as provide tips on how you can organize and maintain a strict, healthy sleep schedule that improves your daily performance in all aspects of life. Let’s dive right in, shall we?

The Connection Between Sleep and Productivity

There are at least a few logical claims we can make that most people can relate to or at least keep up with, even without any knowledge of how sleep works. As many as 50% of US residents report experiencing problems in their daily life (especially at work) as a consequence of sleep deprivation, even if it’s not a chronic issue. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, really – we associate long work hours with fatigue, exhaustion, and stress even without factoring in potentially inadequate rest. Unfortunately, most people don’t have to imagine how bad it gets when you’re sleep-deprived. Around the late 19th century, work shifts were getting reduced from 9 to 8 hours, as people came to realize that working for longer than 8 hours made workers inefficient, susceptible to accidents and generally exhausted.

Eight hours of work per day turns into 40 over the course of a work week. Now think about how many people you know that work more than that. A lot of working adults have an inadequate sleeping schedule and suffer the consequences of sleep deprivation and fatigue. A lot of fatigue symptoms and consequences are subtle and hard to notice by the person in question – but they can be crippling and potentially life-threatening under the right circumstances. For starters, your mood drops significantly – sleep-deprived people often display signs of irritability, and they’re much more prone to taking unnecessary risks. Your memory and information processing take a dip as well, making it harder to do a lot of office jobs. On top of that, your hand-eye coordination gets considerably worse, as does your awareness of your surroundings and the ability to stay focused. These issues are particularly threatening for people who drive or do jobs with inherent risk factors.

As a rule, sleep deprivation is a problem when the person in question sleeps for less than six hours the previous night. It has been determined that running on 6 hours of “gas” is almost the same as being sleep-deprived for a whole 24 hours in terms of performance and associated risks. However, it’s a common misconception that the number of hours is all there is to healthy sleep.

Think of it this way – have you ever slept for a combined total of 10 hours in one day and still felt tired and unfocused? Clearly just reaching a number isn’t what makes sleep restorative. The amount of time spent asleep (or sleep quantity) is only one side of the coin in this situation, and it’s equally as important to consider sleep quality (how efficient and healthy the sleep was).

Sleep architecture is a term most people don’t have a firm grasp on. For this majority, sleep stages and rapid eye movement are vague terms that have something to do with dreaming, but the full picture is key to understanding how sleep affects our productivity. Sleep architecture is the natural progression of sleep through specific stages. The order is light sleep, then deep sleep, and then finally REM sleep before looping back to light sleep. Each of these stages is characterized by specific repairs and chemical procedures that occur in your body. While you sleep, your brain orchestrates things like memory consolidation (primarily in light and REM sleep), muscle tissue repair, immune system maintenance, blood sugar regulation, and many other processes.

Because each stage has its purpose and benefits, it is important to cycle through them with as little interference as possible. Having your sleep interrupted reduces the amount of time you spend in deep and REM sleep. This problem is frequently called “fragmented sleep,” as it happens when someone wakes up multiple times per night. Fragmented sleep robs you of all the benefits that come with non-light sleep, making you incredibly inefficient the following day. Naturally, this affects your performance at work and even the economy overall (once you factor in how many working adults deal with sleep deprivation – sleep deprivation hurts our economy by around $411 billion each year). Students also have trouble learning things efficiently due to insufficient time spent in REM sleep. Athletes recover from muscle strain much slower if they regularly experience sleep-deprivation and fragmented sleep.

Then there’s the concept of our circadian rhythm. It is a biological rhythm managed and influenced by a “master clock” in our brain stem that uses light receptors to tell our body when it’s time to go to sleep through hormone production and secretion. A lot of our bodily processes are affected by our circadian rhythm, but this rhythm is incredibly easy to disrupt and throw off-balance by a quick series of bad sleep decisions or unfortunate events (such as workplace emergencies). Because our hormones control much more than when we sleep, a disrupted circadian rhythm can cripple us in many aspects of our daily life. It can be very hard to get your rhythm back on track if you have to deal with something like shift work or a sleep disorder.

Improve Productivity Through Better Sleep

There is no shortcut to healthy sleep. Bad sleeping habits are just another lifestyle situation that you have to approach strategically and with dedication, much like diets or exercise routines. Being disciplined enough to manage your sleep is not always easy, but it pays off in more ways than you can imagine. Here’s a list of tips you can work on to achieve better sleep, and thus increased productivity:

• Establish and maintain a strict and smart sleep schedule. While the amount of sleep we would recommend to adults is 7-7.5 hours each night, your individual needs may differ. People have what’s called a chronotype, which basically determines when they like to sleep and when they’re most productive. If possible, adapt your work schedule (or whatever other obligations) to your chronotype, not the other way around. That way, you ensure that you’ll wake up feeling more refreshed than you normally would. Make it a personal goal to follow your new sleep schedule to the letter, with no exceptions unless an emergency occurs (which is rare).
• Train your brain to associate your bed with sleeping and sex only. Cognitive therapy often involves something like this, as it’s effective and takes very little if any money. Simply avoid doing any unnecessary activities in your bed, such as eating, watching TV, making phone calls, etc. If your mind treats the bed as a source of comfort and relaxation, it becomes that much easier to fall asleep without unpleasant delays – and to follow your sleep schedule!
• Create a bedtime routine. This routine normally takes anywhere between 30-90 minutes, depending on the person’s available time and other factors. The idea is that you want to make a strict routine of relaxing activities that you perform every single day before bedtime. These activities can include a warm bath, some light exercise, meditation, writing down a shopping list for tomorrow, drinking warm tea, etc. This method trains your body to relax automatically as bedtime approaches, as humans like sticking to routines.
• Maintain a steady and healthy diet. Some of the most harmful factors that lead to sleep disruption come from what we eat and drink. Coffee and alcohol are common in practically every adult household, but they both damage your ability to fall and stay asleep. Avoid sugary and greasy foods, as your blood sugar levels are also connected to your ability to produce sleep-related hormones like melatonin and cortisol. You’re allowed to have cheat days, but don’t get stuffed full of sleep-ruining foods and drinks close to bedtime.
• Get some exercise, preferably outside. Exposure to sunlight goes a long way towards synchronizing and maintaining your circadian rhythm, and exercise has a whole host of benefits even if you remove sleep from the equation. When it comes to sleeping, it helps to get physically tired before bedtime, although we recommend avoiding massive strain and difficult routines. Much like how you open your window to get fresh air and relax, try to have a jog or fast walk right before you begin your bedtime routine.
• Try establishing a morning routine, too. Being able to wake up at the same time each day takes some discipline and often practice. Come up with a routine that helps you kickstart your day, whether it involves a tasty cup of coffee (or tea), some light exercise, a morning shower, or whatever you think helps you break the morning drowsiness. Nothing feels worse than going into your office while groggy and exhausted, so teach yourself to prevent that issue.
• Separate yourself from your smartphone during the evening and morning. Blue light has been shown to damage our sleep, and while any electronic device can do this, smartphones are the most common source because we use them to stay in touch with anyone and everyone. Avoid obsessing over emails before bed or first thing in the morning. A simple and small change like this can have a surprisingly positive effect on your sleep every day. If you have the technology and a really important need to do so, program your notifications to only make noises and draw attention if it’s work-related or similarly important to your productivity.
• If you’re experiencing serious difficulty falling asleep, consult your doctor as soon as possible. You may be dealing with one of many sleep disorders that are preventing you from getting the rest you need and deserve, and the sooner you get checked out, the better.

If you ask any hard-working adult you can find, chances are high that you’ll hear complaints about how little they sleep. The idea that you can either make a lot of money or sleep well (and not both) is widespread enough to be considered an ingrained part of our common knowledge. Stories of incredibly busy executives, writers, and shift workers hover in casual conversations, convincing people that sleep is something you have to sacrifice in order to make enough money to live comfortably. Due to how finances play into our daily life, most people prioritize money over sleep if they feel like they have to choose only one.

But do they? There may be professions you can aim for if you want to balance your monthly income with a healthy, sensible sleep schedule. This article aims to explore just that and provide info on where you can get a job that allows you to get enough rest to avoid illness and fatigue. We will look at various fields and use the American Time Use Survey (ATUS, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics) to determine who gets paid the most and who sleeps the most. The idea that career success often has to come at the cost of the person’s health doesn’t hold as much water as some people claim, fortunately. However, there is some truth in such claims. Let’s get into it.

What Was Our Methodology?

We were mainly concerned with US residents and their average income and amount of time spent asleep per night (on average). In order to get reliable information, we looked towards the ATUS. This survey was conducted with 10,000 respondents, and the information they willingly revealed about their monthly income, sleep, and other factors. This data was contained within three separate yet connected ATUS resources, each of which was designed to collect specific types of information from the respondents. The sources we consulted were:

• The ATUS Respondent data file, which was created to store information about the wage and employment status of each respondent. This file is where we pulled income numbers from to get our results.
• The ATUS Activity Summary data file, which contains detailed information on the sleeping habits of every respondent. As the purpose of this article is to measure how much sleep common professions “allow,” this file played an instrumental role in our research.
• The ATUS Roster data file, containing basic information provided by the respondents, including age, gender, etc. While this information played a somewhat lesser role in our overall assessment, it helped paint a clearer picture as to who’s the most susceptible to sleep deprivation.

Getting the data is only the first step. With this information “in hand,” we could start our analysis. The second step was to reduce the number of entries only to those that would fit our criteria. It means we were forced to remove entries where the respondent did not provide necessary information about their wage and work schedule (meaning their precise work hours, more or less). This filter alone reduced the number of entries to around 3,150, but we were not finished. It was important to establish a strict set of criteria, which meant the removal of entries where subjective interpretations caused skewed responses when it came to employment status (where the respondents would give vague or non-specific answers due to working as contractors or working part-time). At the end of our filtration and limitation process, we were left with a rough figure of 1500 respondents. While it’s hard to assume that our numbers mirror the population at large, we consider it a suitable enough sample size to make the estimate we needed to make.

The Results

The ultimate goal was to compare professions based on how much money they generate and how much sleep they tend to allow (or “take away”). The results were mixed in the sense that some of the estimates follow what you might hear in casual conversations among non-specialists, whereas others deviated further from our original expectations from when we began this process. As a whole, we’ve discovered that there is a considerable amount of truth behind the idea that good salaries often “necessitate” bad sleeping habits, not every profession fits into this mold. We will list a good amount of professions to paint a clear picture as to where you should seek employment if you value your sleeping hours (which you should, for the sake of your health and the safety of those around you).

For example, it shouldn’t surprise you that lawyers and other legal specialists generate some of the highest salaries (often earning around $1850 over the course of a 42-hour work week on average). However, this comes at a cost – with legal specialists being closer to the lower extreme of hours spent asleep (with an average of 7.2 hours per day, but frequent situations where they get less than 6 hours in a given night). Legal cases impose a lot of stress on the worker and often demand extra hours of effort, which can all add up to a very unstable sleeping schedule and frequent scenarios where the person is functioning on a small amount of sleep. Additionally, there is a large pay gap between the lower and higher ends of the legal hierarchy, to the point where paralegal specialists and people in similar positions often don’t make enough money to justify the hit to their sleep schedules.  

One of the worst possible places to be in your career is the position of a healthcare assistant or medical aide. These jobs are demanding and stressful, creating a problem where it’s very hard to hit the recommended value of 8 hours of sleep per night, especially since shift work is often involved (we will talk about this separately, later on in the article). In the worst case scenario, a person in this position may expect to go to work with less than 6 hours of rest the previous night. The reward for this level of effort is nothing to brag about either – healthcare assistants and aides make an average of $426 per week, which is definitely one of the lowest figures we’ve noticed.

If you’re looking for good rest but aren’t bothered by a low salary (for whatever reason), you want to look towards food service or personal care industries. Bartenders, hairdressers, and waiters average in at close to 9 hours of sleep per night on average, which is more than enough to keep you healthy and energized. However, these positions often come with some of the worst salaries you can find, with an average value of around $400 or slightly less.

Working in the art industry can mean many things, but in this case, we will focus on graphic designers, fine art, film editing, and 3d model work. You most likely won’t find an optimal amount of sleep in these fields. The average amount of hours spent sleeping per night hovers at around 7, with situations where you have to sleep for roughly 5.5 hours on some days. However, the pay isn’t bad at all – work schedules that demand only around 32 hours of work each week can result in salaries of $1050. If you’re really lucky (or simply amazing at your job), you could see salaries that approach $1700-1800, which makes jobs like graphic design incredibly appealing.

One of the most rewarding professions when it comes to both monthly income and sleep economy is coding. Programmers and math scientists regularly clock in almost 8 hours of sleep per night, which lets them focus on their work that much more effectively. This increase in efficiency may have something to do with their earnings – programmers usually work around 50 hours per week (at worst), but they rake in almost as much money as lawyers (who have to work a lot more) – around $1750 per month on average. If you’re trying to choose something to study, coding may be the way to go, as it is always in demand (and seems to be accelerating due to the exponential growth of technology in the modern age). You get to sleep a lot and also improve your life using a chunky salary.

Workplace Risks and Sleep

While it’s safe to consider any job unhealthy for your sleep if it offers you less than 7 hours of sleep per night on average, there are other, less obvious problems to consider. Fatigue (often called excessive daytime sleepiness) is the most common result of any sleeping problem (including sleep disorders), and it causes the person in question to become way less efficient at virtually anything they do. Your perception gets considerably worse, and you start to miss things you would notice on more hours of sleep. You become more prone to taking risks, and your memory, hand-eye coordination, and similar things take a massive drop in quality.

As a result of all this, workplace accidents become more likely when you’re involved, if you have fatigue. Some job positions put you at more risk simply through what you have to do to perform your job. We’ll use transportation jobs as an example – both drivers and pilots are put in potentially extreme danger if they’re sleep-deprived. They endanger not only themselves but also their passengers and anyone in the immediate area. Driving jobs often don’t limit your ability to get proper rest, but they’re the worst possible thing you could be doing if you’re heavily fatigued. Drivers sadly also make poor salaries.

Keep in mind that any kind of job that involves mandatory shift work is practically guaranteed to ruin your sleep schedule and cause lots of fatigue, even if it pays well. Sometimes the hours spent working don’t mean everything, as the nature of the job could expose you to health risks or direct physical danger. Know what you’re getting into when applying for work – a person with an established sleep disorder should not work in positions that require precision or good reflexes, for example.